News

Prison assault

A PRISONER at Long Lartin jail, near Evesham, poured boiling orange juice over a fellow inmate as he sat in his cell with no shirt on, a court was told.

Omar Aslam prepared a kettle with the liquid and when the automatic doors opened on his wing, he went to a cell occupied by Thomas Greenwood, John Brotherton, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court.

Mr Greenwood was sitting on his bunk inside the maximum security prison in South Littleton, with his top half uncovered.

Aslam poured the liquid on him before they were separated by officers. Mr Greenwood almost immediately splashed cold water on the wounds which prevented them from being more serious but he still needed a week’s medical treatment and painkillers for a further month, the court heard.

Mr Brotherton said the motive was unclear.

Aslam, aged 29, originally from Perry Barr, Birmingham, was serving a sentence for violence and had previous convictions for violent crimes dating back to 2003.

He pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.

Martin Butterworth, defending, said Aslam had spent much of his adult life in jail and was in danger of becoming “institutionalised” but he had hopes for the future and a supportive family waiting for him on his release.

Aslam, who has completed his previous sentence, was given a further two years in prison with an extended licence period of two years.